Month: September 2022

In order to become a permanent resident of the United States, applicants must undergo a medical exam to ensure that they will not trigger any of the health-related grounds of inadmissibility. For example, having a contagious disease such as measles, mumps or tuberculosis could render someone unable to become a permanent resident. Normally, USCIS considers a completed Form I-693 medical exam to remain valid for 2 years after the U.S. civil surgeon signs the form, so long as the civil surgeon’s signature is no more than 60 days old when USCIS receives the application for permanent residence.

Because of COVID-related delays, USCIS has excused this 60-day signature requirement. This is a temporary exception that was set to expire today. However, USCIS announced yesterday that the exception to the 60-day signature requirement will be extended until March 31, 2023. This is a welcome extension that will help ease filings timelines and processing delays caused by COVID. For more information about the requirements to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States, reach out to our attorneys for a consultation.

Immigration processing times are not known for being quick – the opposite is sadly true as processing times for many case types have ticked up substantially over the past few years.  However, good news is at hand for at least a few more categories of employment-based permanent residence, as USCIS continues its phased approach to expanding the cases that are eligible for premium processing.  Premium processing allows for the payment of an extra fee to the agency; in return USCIS will adjudicate the petition within a greatly reduced time frame, the length of which depends on the case type.  However, the types of cases that are eligible for premium processing have been narrowly defined in the past.  With this third phase of premium process expansion, USCIS is permitting certain petitioners who have a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications, to interfile premium processing on the pending cases.

As of September 15, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for:

• Multinational executive and manager petitions received on or before January 1, 2022 (EB-1); and
• National Interest Waiver petitions received on or before February 1, 2022 (EB-2).

USCIS has stated that it will reject premium processing requests for these Form I-140 classifications if the receipt date is after the above-mentioned dates.

Is your case eligible for premium processing?  If you have questions, reach out to the attorneys at Curray York & Associates for a consultation.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts that within the next two decades population growth in the United States will be fully fueled by immigration. “As the effects of the pandemic wane and economic conditions in the U.S. improve, net immigration flows are projected to rise.” In a new report released in July 2022, the CBO concludes that immigration will soon drive all of the United States’ population growth.  By 2043 deaths will outnumber births in the U.S., and immigration will be the only source of the United State’s population gain.

In CBO’s assessment, pandemic-related travel restrictions and reduced visa-processing capabilities resulted in 160,000 fewer net immigrants in 2020 and 110,000 fewer net immigrants in 2021. From 2022 to 2051, however, the annual net flow of immigrants is predicted to be higher. CBO now estimates 10,000 more people per year, on average, than the agency projected last year. If your family or business is amongst those looking to bring immigrants to the U.S., reach out to talk with one of our attorneys.